JUST three months before the first ship is expected to dock at Thurrock's new port, the government's maritime minster called in today to check on its progress.

Nusrat Ghani, accompanied by borough MP Jackie Doyle-Price and senior managers of Forth Ports, visited new 160 acre port terminal, Tilbury2.

Her tour included a visit to the community outreach, employment and re-training programmes to support former armed forces personnel and their families get back-to-work, utilising the Tilbury on the Thames Trust's high-tech simulator suite.

The Minister also met two female graduate trainees and heard about the Group's efforts to promote greater gender diversity, as part of the Women in Maritime initiative.

The £250m Tilbury2 project consists of the construction of a new port terminal and associated facilities on land at the former Tilbury Power Station on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury.

When operational in April, Tilbury2 will be the UK's largest unaccompanied freight ferry port, the country's biggest construction processing hub and will see the creation of a new significantly larger rail head which can accommodate the longest freight trains of 775m.

The project is central to the Port of Tilbury's £1 billion investment programme during 2012-20, which has seen it double the size of its business in the past 10 years.

The Port is also boosting the local economy through jobs, as it is expecting to increase direct employment (from 3,500 to 12,000 jobs) over the next 10 to 15 years.

"Our new port is nearing completion at a crucial time as the UK prepares to leave the European Union. Harnessing the best-in-class border processes, Tilbury2 will be Brexit ready when the first ship docks at the start of April," commented Charles Hammond, Chief Executive of Forth Ports.

Ms Ghani said: "Ports are at the heart of the UK's economy and I was delighted to visit the Port of Tilbury today and see the progress being made with Tilbury2 after the major development was recently given the go-ahead by the Department for Transport.

"This is an impressive example of how we are supporting our ports to harness talent, boosting diversity and taking advantage of technologies to bolster the capabilities of nearly 30,000 people who work at the ports around the country."

On the work of the Tilbury on the Thames Trust, Charles Hammond, added: "Forth Ports has a long-standing connection with the armed forces and is proud to support former soldiers, seamen and airmen back to work by equipping them with essential skills needed in a modern logistics setting through our range of training programmes harnessing our simulator suite."